Cologne vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cologne	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1941	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4759	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$1049	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$1816	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$538	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$208	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3341	$4188
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	92	99
😀 Quality of life	95	100
🏙️ Population	1.09M	5.45M

The cost of living in Cologne is 32% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 2200th and 370th ($1941 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 1st in Germany and Australia, respectively. Check Germany vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cologne compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Cologne ranked 2nd best city to live in Germany vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 21st and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Cologne vs Sydney

Prices for goods and services in Cologne and Sydney are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cologne	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.2	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.1	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.56	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$4.07	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.76	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1071	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$805	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1941	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1445	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$231	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.88%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8050	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5385	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.12	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$69	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.4	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.08	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.16	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$27.6	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.38	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.3	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.61	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.8	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$55.4	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.1	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$95.1	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1042	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23900	$25164

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1728
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$1972
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1715
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1713
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1726
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1722
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1689
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1732
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1693
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1713
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1699
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1689
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1716
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1721
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1696
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1674
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1764
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1686
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1667
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1711
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1657
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1738
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1948
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1673
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1698
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1658
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1631
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1662
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1653
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1668
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1652
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1617
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1653
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1597
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1685
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1629
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1650
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1686
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1913

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2354
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2040
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1709
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1995
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1701
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1795
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1460
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2258
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1855
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1273
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1825
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1816
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$2000
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2341
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1936
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1915
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1493
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1913
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1825
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1834
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2543
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1933
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1896
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2323
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1813
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1992
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2179
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1606
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1863